Irvin indicted 10 months later

DENTON, Texas -- Former Dallas Cowboys receiver Michael Irvin was indicted Thursday on a felony charge of possessing less than a gram of cocaine stemming from an arrest last summer.

The charge carries a penalty from six months to two years in jail and up to a $10,000 fine, said Lee Ann Breading, assistant district attorney in Denton County.

Irvin was arrested Aug. 9 at a North Dallas apartment where law officers said they found marijuana and other drugs. Irvin had completed probation on a no-contest plea to felony cocaine possession less than two months earlier.

Irvin's attorney, Howard Shapiro, said he was surprised by the timing of the indictment.

''Why did it take 10 months for this case to get to the grand jury?'' Shapiro said at a news conference. ''What evidence exists now that didn't exist 10 months ago? I think this is overaggressive, overzealous prosecution.''

Shapiro said Irvin, who was not at the news conference, planned to plead innocent and would request a jury trial.

FBI spokeswoman Lori Bailey said the case evolved after officers with the Collin-Denton County Drug Task Force, of which the FBI is a part, attempted to arrest Rhonda Adaham on a federal warrant at her apartment.

Adaham was not there, but her sister, Nelly Adaham, and Irvin were found and arrested. Nelly Adaham was indicted on the same charge as Irvin, but Rhonda Adaham was not indicted, Breading said.

Breading couldn't comment on specific evidence presented to the grand jury, nor would she discuss the nature of the arrest, why Irvin was at the apartment, or how he knew the women.

Authorities said they found less than 2 ounces of marijuana along with ecstasy pills. Irvin was not charged after the arrest.

''Our intent that day was not to initiate a drug investigation,'' Bailey said. ''But based on evidentiary materials that were found that day, an investigation had to begin. It just takes time to conduct an investigation.''

This article published in the Athens Banner-Herald on Friday, June 22, 2001.